College’s ‘no whites allowed’ pool party postponed after backlash

The Claremont Independent reported Thursday that a group at the school, Café con Leche (“the badass Latinx at Scripps”) would be holding a POC-only (persons of color) pool party at the school Friday night.

“This event is open only to 5C students that identify as POC,” read the original Facebook event page. (5C stands for the five Claremont Colleges, one of which is Scripps College.)

The Independent then reported Friday that the event description had been changed to include all 5C students, and added an update: Scripps College President Lara Tiedens sent an email to students Friday afternoon noting that the pool party had been postponed “due to concerns about student safety in the wake of numerous phone calls and emails from the public expressing hostility and threatening physical violence.”

The story made it to conservative outlets like Legal Insurrection, The Blaze, Campus Reform, and The College Fix, where it was then picked up by The Drudge Report:

NO WHITES ALLOWED?! Hey, Scripps College! What about Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI states, “Schools and colleges that receive federal funds must operate without discriminating when it comes to race, color, and national origin.” https://t.co/5bVJoXavn7

Self-segregated spaces and events exclusively for POC are increasingly common across the Claremont Colleges. Pitzer College’s Climbing Club is hosting an event later this month off campus for POC only. The event’s description begins by saying, “Are you a person of color? Have you ever wanted to try climbing, but felt intimidated by the predominantly white space that is the climbing community?” and tells members to “bring all of your POC identifying friends for a fun, FREE, night of climbing! … This is a closed event for POC identifying people only,” with the caveat that for white members being excluded, “expect another climb night in the near future open to everyone.”